Baby Boomer Blues
by Steve West on April 23, 2021
I overheard someone of my generation (born in the early 60's) recently say, "Kids today don't even know how to write in cursive," in a negative way. That statement got grumbled agreement from the codgers nearby. I was thinking without saying out loud, "Grandma, you can't even turn on your laptop without getting six viruses and wiring half your retirement money to a Nigerian Prince." How can two people in the same generation have such polarizing views? Why am I surprised and disappointed when this happens across myriad issues? A little tolerance, please.
Four Replies to Baby Boomer Blues
Erik Bates | April 23, 2021
[hidden by author request]
Steve West | April 23, 2021
And to that I say, "Me transmitte sursum, caledoni (Beam me up, Scotty). Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes! (If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast paced, high paying world of Latin!)"
And its close relative, Dante's Inferno in middle Italian, "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate. (Abandon all hope ye who enter here.)"
Scott Hardie | April 27, 2021
I agree with your excellent points. But of course, the "Constitution" talk is really just a political signal. The kind of person who frets about "kids today" is also likely to hold that particular document in a certain esteem, and a politician can score twice the affinity by linking them.
Those old codgers that Steve described are really going to flip their shit when they realize that this is the last generation of kids that learns to write longhand at all.
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »
Lucky Number 5
Brenda looked over my shoulder once to see what I was reading that made me chuckle. I told her it was an off-color joke involving the number 68. As it happened, she noticed that this joke appeared on page 68 of the book I was reading. Go »Halloween Post #8: Geek-O'Lanterns
Happy Halloween! Celebrate this absurdly lovable holiday with a time-consuming habit of making a jack-o-lantern. Despite the inherent silliness of carving a gourd as an act of celebration, these pumpkins are very impressive. Go »Crash Test Your Car
Curious about the performance of your car, or any other for that matter, in a crash test? Watch crash dummy after crash dummy suffer serious neck injury in front and side impact crash tests. You pick the make,model and year of car but sadly not the face painted on the dummy. Go »Lost in Translation
Some ad slogans that had hilarious results when translated into other languages for international marketing. Go »Bunny Revisited
My father-in-law (Norm), whom I adore, went through an emotional ordeal dealing with my mother-in law's (Bunny) illness over a lengthy period before she died in 2016. One of her doctors approached Norm and suggested he write a journal as a coping mechanism. After Bunny's death, the doctor asked Norm to allow himself to be filmed talking about his experience while writing the journal. Go »
Scott Hardie | April 23, 2021
I read an article that explained that despite their reputation for not understanding technology, seniors can learn it just fine; the reason why they don't is that they don't see any value in it for them. What use do they have for TikTok or Snapchat or Roblox?
To which I say: What use do kids today have for cursive?